When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played at MemAud 40 years ago, the general admission ticket cost $6.
Forty years ago (today), I attended the best rock 'n roll concert I have ever seen.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. At MemAud. The general admission ticket cost $6.
The album Born to Run was released about six months before the concert, and my mother got it for me for my 20th birthday in December — still one of my best birthday presents EVER — thank you, Mom! I knew every word to every song on that album within a couple of days and could not believe when an ad appeared in The Post a couple of months later that Bruce and his band were coming to Athens for a show.
The day tickets went on sale, several friends and I all bought ours. Then, the morning of the concert, while walking to class — it was a weeknight concert — I picked up that day’s Post. There was a headline stating “Springsteen Cancels.” I was crushed, destroyed and immediately proceeded to let fly some of the most creative profanity that has ever left my lips.
And while doing so — out loud, of course — someone passing by asked why I was so upset. When I explained, he laughed out loud — “You fell for The Post’s April Fool’s Day joke!” And sure enough at the top of the page "The Post" had been replaced with “The Pit.” There was also an explanation about this being a tradition at The Post. Inside the paper was a photo of Bruce from the night before at one of the Court Street bars, Swanky’s. I also should have suspected something was up when the article in The Pit reported that local country band Hannie Hooker was going to be playing in place of Bruce that night.
We debated how long before the 8 o'clock time the concert was to start we should go get in line, since there were no reserved seats. We decided 5 o'clock would be early enough. It was pouring down rain, but we didn’t care. When we got to the front of MemAud, all of the steps were packed with people, and we had to stand at the base of the steps.
I don’t know how long we stood there, or when they opened the doors, but by the time they did, there was a much larger crowd behind us than in front of us. And when they tried to open the doors — toward us — the crowd just pushed forward. I was literally carried up the steps by the crowd surge, not sure if my feet made contact with any of the steps as I was pushed toward the doors. By the time I was shoved through, you could see that one of the doors was shattered. But hey, that’s rock 'n roll. I worked my way down the main floor and found a seat in the middle, about 20 rows from the stage.
There was no opening act that night, and it seemed like we did not have to wait too long for the show to start. The crowd was on its feet the entire show, which lasted over three hours. “Born to Run” was like the fifth song played, and I wondered, ”Where does he go from here?” Bruce and the band went places I’d never heard anyone go before. It just kept getting better and better. Bruce and saxophone player Clarence Clemons danced all over each other during several songs. Bruce took a baseball cap from Tim Povtak, who wrote for The Post then, and wore it for the rest of the concert.
I heard “Rosalita” for the first time EVER that night (being so moved, I went out the next day and bought Bruce’s first two albums).
It’s my recollection that the day after the show, some tragically hip reviewer panned the concert in The Post. Maybe the reviewer was a disco fan?
Even though I’ve been to a multitude shows in the 40 years since, some of which were quite good (a few more with Bruce, with and without the E Street Band), none have ever moved me like that one. Master craftsmen were at work that night, showing a rabid crowd just how great a rock 'n roll band could be. So great that 32 years later, when I attended my daughter Caitlin’s OU graduation, the commencement speaker, OU alum Peter King (of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sunday Night Football) talked about attending that concert when he was an OU student. And Caitlin knew, even before she later asked me, with her diploma in her hand, that the person who yelled “rock 'n roll!” from the top of The Convo after Peter King made his comment was her dad — because I’d only told her and every one of her friends at least 10 times about that show — because nobody her age believed that Bruce Springsteen played MemAud.
But he did.
And I was there — 40 years ago (today).
Scott Lavelle is an Ohio University alumnus from the class of 1977.
